1. Technical Field
This invention relates to agricultural product mixing apparatuses and, more particularly, to a mixing apparatus for separating earthworms from their castings.
2. Prior Art
In nature, composting worms tend to be highly localized, thriving in pockets of highly enriched organic materials. They consume a great variety of organic wastes and excrete worm castings, a highly valued soil conditioner used in potting soil. Worm-worked composts have better texture and greater soil-enhancing properties than ordinary composts and typically retain higher percentages of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous. During the processing of manure by earthworms into castings, many of the nutrients they contain are transformed into forms more readily taken up by plants, such as nitrate nitrogen, exchangeable phosphorous, soluble potassium, calcium and magnesium.
Because their castings provide valuable nutrients to the soil, commercial earthworm growers require separation of the earthworms from their castings in order to process and sell pure castings for use in potting soil. Accordingly, a need remains for an apparatus to economically and efficiently separate earthworms from their castings in order to produce effective potting soil for plants. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a large capacity, separating mechanism that is powered by a motor.